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ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



WHEN LINCOLN 
KISSED ME 

A STORY OF 

THE WILDERNESS 

CAMPAIGN 



BY 

HENRY E. WING 

Formerly Correspondent of the New York Tribune 
with the Army of the Potomac 




NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 
CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & GRAHAM 



9ff a"*'' 



Copyright, 1913, by 
HENRY E. WING. 




'Ci.A343555 



<)« 



A BIT OF HISTORY 



The Rev^ Henry E* Wing, who 

so interestingly tells this Lincoln story, 
is a member of the New York East 
Conference* Twenty years of his min- 
istry were spent in Iowa, bttt since 
J 892 he has made his home in the 
East* At the time of the events nar- 
rated Mr* Wing was correspondent for 
the New York Tribune, assigned to the 
Army of the Potomac* To his inti- 
mate friends he has long been known 
as a raconteur of anustial ability, with 
experiences in varied fields well worthy 
of permanent record* His modesty, 
however, is as characteristic as his 
story-telling* 

The appearance of this and other 
war-time stories after a lapse of fifty 
years is due almost wholly to the 



A BIT OF HISTORY 



efforts of the Rev^ Dr* F* B* Uphairit 
of Brooklyn^ New York, who recognized 
the isnxssxsal quality of Mr* Wing's ex- 
periences and brought them to the at- 
tention of the Editor of The Christian 
Advocate and the Book Editor of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church* The lit- 
erary and historic value of Mr* Wing's 
work was so evident that it was im- 
mediately determined to publish this 
storyt first in the pages of The Chris- 
tian Advocate and afterward in this 
more permanent form* The Christian 
Advocate well says, ** It will be evident 
to all who read this thrilling narrative 
that he sacrificed an opportunity for 
literary distinction in order that he 
might become a Methodist preacher*'' 

D* G* D* 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 




Anxious Days 

N May 4, 1864^ a great army 
of citizen soldierst comprising 
representatives of hundreds 
of thousands of families from 
every Northern commtinityt 
had vanished without warning, leaving, 
absolutely no sign of their destination 
or hint even of the direction in which 
they had disappeared* There followed 
three or four days of such heart-break- 
ing apprehension and bewilderment as 
the loyal nation had never before ex- 
perienced* I did not then compre- 
hendt and probably cannot yet quite 
appreciate, the tension of painful anx- 
iety that held the whole country in its 

5 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

grip and which it became my good 
fortune later to relieve* 

It may be noted that this slipping 
away of the army from all communica- 
tion with the capital was intentional 
and deliberate* A study of previous 
** advances,** under the surveillance of 
parties in authority inexperienced in 
military affairs, will disclose one mo- 
tive for bringing Grant east to take 
personal charge of this campaign* This 
will also furnish the key to the letter 
from the President to him, written a 
short week before the movement was 
made, in which he says: ** The particu- 
lars of your plans I neither know nor 
seek to know*'* 

Beginning the Campaign 

The great campaign '*by the left 
flank ** that was to end at Appomattox 
nearly a year afterward was begun from 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

about Calpeper on the early morning 
of May 4, 1864. *' The objective point/' 
Grant had written to Mead^ ** will be 
Lee's army* Where he goes there you 
will go also/' Lee's army was at and 
about Orange Court House* Between 
Culpeper and this first ** objective 
point " — moving by the left, to possibly 
get between Lee and his capital — 
flowed the Rapidan River^ and beyond 
that stretched the almost impenetrable 
** wilderness/' 

The immediate undertaking was to 
get the Union army of more than one 
hundred thousand men over into the 
open country before Lee could inter- 
cept it* This was no small task* 
There were actually but two miserable 
and narrow roads: one across Ger- 
mania Ford and by Old Wilderness 
Tavern, toward Spottsylvania, the other 
across Ely's Ford, and, skirting the 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

wilderness, to Chancellorsville* Over 
these two highways, for an average 
distance of twenty-five miles, before 
Lee could fall upon them, were to be 
pushed something like thirty miles of 
marching infantry, ten miles of cavalry, 
five miles of artillery, and sixty miles 
of army wagons* It is evident that the 
key to the success of this initial move- 
ment was push* 

The second corps (Hancock's), es- 
corted by Gregg's division of cavalry, 
crossed at Ely's Ford in the early 
morning (May 4) and reached the 
open country, near Chancellorsville, 
about noon* Here, in a splendid po- 
sition for a great battle, Hancock spent 
the afternoon intrenching and extend- 
ing his lines westward to certainly get 
.between Lee and Richmond* Mean- 
while Warren with his fifth corps 

crossed at Germania Ford and worked 

8 




HENRY E. WING 
War Correspondent 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

his way down by the Tavern till he 
reached the junction of the Orange 
Court House Turnpike* Instead of 
pushing right on and joining Hancock 
he halted here, and got into position for 
a possible attack by Lee, leaving Sedg- 
wick with his sixth corps ** bottled up ^* 
in the narrow road two or three miles 
behind hinit and Hancock cut off from 
all support, five or six miles in front* 
Here, on Thursday morning. May 5, 
Lee found us* And here ensued the 
dreadful Battle of the Wilderness* 

I am not writing a history of that 
great campaign— not even the story of 
this first grapple between those match- 
less chieftains. Grant and Lee* But, 
following what I have already set down, 
it may properly be said that had Sedg- 
wick instead of the over-cautious War- 
ren led the column across the upper 
ford, there would have been no *^ Battle 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

of the Wilderness,^' but one which 
might have been decisive, on the open 
plains beyond* 

The Message to Lincoln 

The New York Tribune had four 

# 

correspondents in the field, of whom I 
was one, attached at that time to the 
second corps* At the close of the first 
day's fighting, we came together at 
army headquarters to compare notes 
and to lay plans for the future* The 
battle was to be renewed the next 
morning* It was an open secret that 
Mead had suggested a retreat across 
the river under cover of the night and 
a fresh start over some more promising 
route, and that Grant had vetoed the 
proposition and had ordered the lines 
to be formed for an assault upon the 
enemy at daybreak* 

It was very quickly decided that one 

10 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

of us should start for the North with 
the several reports of the stirring events 
of the last two or three days* As I was 
the youngestt I knew the task natur- 
ally belonged to me^ and my offer to 
undertake it was instantly accepted by 
the others* It was known to be an ad- 
venturous undertaking* The Ninth 
corps was already crossing the Rapi- 
dan to support the fortunes of the 
battle-line in front, and thus by to- 
morrow the whole country between the 
Rapidan and the Bull Run Rivers was 
to be abandoned by our troops* How 
full of peril the enterprise really was 
may be inferred from the fact that of 
four or five messengers for different 
newspapers I was the only one who 
had the good fortune to get through* 

My favorite mount was a Kentucky- 
bred racing horse, that I had procured 
from Captain Cline, Mead^s chief of 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

scouts^ As soon as it was decided that 
I should make the trip I went up to the 
corralt and instructed the **boY** to 
^iwe Jesse a hearty breakfast at three 
o^cIock in the momingt and to have 
him groomed and saddled at four* He 
might have to take me more than 
seventy miles to Washington — ^possibly 
without even a feed or halt — the fol- 
lowing day* 

I then went up to Grant^s headquar- 
ters, and, approaching him, said that I 
was coming out the next day, and 
asked him if he had any message to 
the people that I could insert in my 
dispatches to the Tribune* 

*^ Well, yes,'^ he replied, *^ you may 
tell the people that things are going 
swimmingly down here/' 

The remark was so evasive, or pur- 
posely misleading, at the close of a 

battle in which every one of his plans 

J2 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

had evidently gone wrong that I smiled 
as I entered the exact words in my 
note book, thanked him, and turned 
away* I had only taken a step or two 
when he got up and joined me* When 
we had walked out of hearing of his 
companions he laid his hand upon my 
shoulder and, quietly facing me, in- 
quired, *^ You expect to get through to 
Washington ? ** 

I replied that that was my purpose, 
and that I should start at daybreak* 

Then, in a low tone, he said : ** Well, 
if you see the President, tell him from 
me that, whatever happens, there will 
be no turning back*^* He silently gave 
me his hand in farewell greeting, and 
we parted* 

Through the Enemy's Country 

At four o'clock the next morning, 
after three hours of sound sleep and a 

13 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

light bf eakfastt I was in the saddle* In 
my saddlebags were the general re- 
ports of march and battle, to fill at 
least a whole page of the Daily Trib- 
une, and strapped behind was a good 
feed of oats for my trtisty comrade* 

I had worked out a splendid plan — 
for getting captured* On Wednesday 
morning (only the day before yester- 
day: but how long ago it seemed!), 
riding with the second corps, my jour- 
nalistic companion was Mr* Waud, of 
Harper's Weekly* After crossing at 
Ely's Ford he took me up the river a 
few miles to some silver mines* Here 
was an acquaintance of his, a Mr* Wy- 
ko£f, of Brooklyn, New York, who, too 
far advanced in life to be drafted into 
the Confederate service, had stayed to 
look after mining properties, owned by 
Northern capitalists* My scheme now 
was, to get Mr* WykofI to go along 

14 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

with me, at least across the country to 
the Rappahannock River, guiding me 
by by-roads and cattle-trails with 
which he must be familiar through 
that portion of my route, in the imme- 
diate rear of our army, and most likely 
to be overrun by bands of guerrillas 
and scouting parties of the enemy^s 
cavalry^ So I turned Jesse^s head 
toward Culpeper mines and, in 
a short time, was at Mr* Wykoff's 
door* 

Mr* Wykoff dismissed my proposal 
without the slightest hesitation* He 
was known through all that neighbor- 
hood as an uncompromising Union 
man, and no course could be devised 
that would more surely defeat my pur- 
pose than to be found in his company* 
He was almost certain that I would 
fail in my undertaking; but when he 

realized that I was determined to try 

(5 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

he elaborated the scheme to which I 
was to owe my success at last: I mast 
be going to Washington; and I must 
have an errand there that would 
justify my haste, and that would win 
the sympathy, and possible coopera- 
tion, of the enemy* So this was my 
story: There had been a great battle, 
in which the Yankee army had been 
overwhelmingly defeated; and I was 
hurrying with the good news to our 
friends in Washington* To fortify me 
in the prosecution of this adventure 
Mr* WykofE made me familiar with 
the names of a half dozen prominent 
Southern sympathizers in the capital 
city* Then he wisely determined that 
I was too well dressed for the part* 
The Tribune took pride in having its 
representatives well equipped, and my 
outfit included pantaloons of the most 

costly Irish corduroy, a fine **buck- 

16 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

skin'* jacket, a dark, soft felt hat, 
calf-skin boots, and Alexandra kid 
gloves^ These I exchanged for a regu- 
lar *^ Butternut *' suit, with coarse, 
broad **brogans'' and a disreputable 
hat of quilted cotton* 

While these preparations were being 
made a troop of gray cavalry passed 
up the river on the opposite bank, and 
it became nearly certain that I was to 
fall in with many such parties* No 
loyal man would take through our 
lines, when there was possibility of 
capture, a scrap of paper that would 
convey information to the enemy; so 
I destroyed my precious budget of 
correspondence and all notes and 
memoranda that could possibly dis- 
close information of value* And, for 
my own safety, I divested myself of all 
private papers, by which I could be 

identified* Then, bidding farewell to 

\7 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

the loyal man to whose wise counsel I 
undoubtedly owe my lif e^ I set out on 
my long and hazardous journey* 

Among Mosby's Troopers 

About eight miles on the way was 
the little hamlet of Richardsville, at 
which point Mr* Wykoff had advised 
me to take a blind trail across to 
Field^s Fordt on the Rappahannock* I 
reached there^ having encountered but 
one small squad of Confederate scouts, 
with whom I had no difficulty* I was 
much encouraged by my experience 
thus far; and, once across the Rappa- 
hannockt the country I was to travel 
was likely to be practically abandoned* 

But right now I came to a troop of 
Mosby^s troopers* They were lying 
about in a dooryard, with their horses 
feeding outside the fence* As I was 
riding leisurely by they naturally hailed 

18 




ULYSSES S. GRANT 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 



mCt and, gathering aboat, received my 
good tidings of Lee's victory with great 
rejoicing* But, as to my going on 
alone! — the woods were ftill of skulk- 
ing ^* nigger '' soldiers — stragglers from 
Ferraro's division of colored troops, 
and the life of a good rebel, like me^ 
would not be worth **a chaw-er-ter- 
backer/' The sequel was that they 
famished me an escort of two men to 
protect me on the way* I was now 
having the ^^ran of luck*' which had 
been rather a distinguishing feature of 
my career since boyhood* Two men, 
mounted and armed, ragged and dirty 
enough to be my fit companions, were 
to give me respectable standing with 
their neighbors, and were to defend 
me from the ravaging black man* 

I supposed that we were on our way 
to Field's Ford, but, coming over the 
brow of a hill, I recognized the scene 



19 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

before me* We were at Kelly's Ford ; 
and Mr* Kelly, a one-armed man — at 
heart a bitter secessionist — had **enter- 
tained '^ me for two days while our 
troops were in that neighborhood* He 
would almost certainly recognize me 
in even this disguise unless I could slip 
by unobserved* So I dismissed my 
kind companions with many thanks, as 
I was now sure of myself, and they had 
been in the saddle all night* 

Once rid of my escort I started for 
the ford, but Mr* Kelly was standing 
on a knoll above his house, listening 
to the roar of the distant battle, and, 
hastening across to the road, he inter- 
cepted me* I drew my slouching hat 
brim down over my face, but he recog- 
nized me and reached for the bridle* 
As he did so I touched Jesse with the 
spur and he sprang forward and rushed 
for the river* In answer to Mr* Kelly^s 

20 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

shouts, my erstwhile comradeSt joined 
by two other mounted men, came 
dashing after me* In my confusion 
we missed the ford, but Jesse swam 
boldly through the deep waters to the 
upper shore* As he scrambled up the 
steep bank a volley of scattering shots 
spattered about us* 

I was now in excellent spirits* I 
was mounted on a horse that had 
never been overtaken* Besides, my 
proverbial ^*Iuck'^ could certainly be 
depended on* But just then I made 
one of those sad mistakes that so fre- 
quently interrupt and defeat the good 
offices of Dame Fortune* I should 
have kept right on east through a 
sparsely settled country to Warrenton 
Junction; but a piece of thick timber 
at the left hand invited me to turn 
aside into a wood path, and in ten 

minutes I burst into the clearing about 

2i 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

Rappahannock Stationt on the Orange 
and Alexandria Railroad* Here were 
five hundred people, of all ages and 
both sexest loading carts and wagons 
with abandoned army supplies* I 
could not ride through the crowd on a 
gallop without attracting attention, so 
I pulled Jesse down to a walk, and no 
one accosted me* 

I turned to the right and, once past 
the village, tried to put Jesse forward 
at his best gait toward Washington, 
but the road was so encumbered with 
vehicles and cavalrymen that I could 
make but slow progress* It would ex- 
cite suspicion if I did not greet every- 
one who accosted me, and, of course, 
I had to satisfy the scrutiny of the 
numerous squads of Confederate pa- 
trol* While my story was finally ac- 
cepted by everyone I met, my progress 
was constantly interrupted, and some- 

22 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

where behind me were my comrades 
of the morningt gathering recruits as 
they came and bent on my capture* 

With a clear road, on a horse that 
had never been outstripped, I would 
have enjoyed the contest, but every 
moment in which I was halted and 
questioned increased my peril until I 
was certain that I could never get 
through in the saddle. My only chance 
was in abandoning my horse* But, 
leaving him in the highway would re- 
sult in my certain capture, before I 
could get out of the neighborhood* 

Just then my apparently ever-present 
good fortune again came to my aid* A 
clump of trees with thick underbrush 
a few yards from the road offered 
** shelter for man and beast*'^ Watch- 
ing an opportunity, when no one was in 
sight, I led Jesse into this safe retreat* 
Slipping off saddle and bridle and hid- 

23 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

ing them away, I tied my good friend 
by a long rein to an overhanging 
branch, poured the oats upon the 
ground, and bade him a really ^^ affec- 
tionate farewell/^ 

Before I crept out of my hiding place 
a do2en men, led by my quondam 
friends, came galloping by* They 
were evidently in quest of a good-look- 
ing youngster, in a butternut suit, rid- 
ing a handsome chestnut Kentucky 
thoroughbred* If they are looking yet, 
this may inform them that we are not 
thereabouts* Even Jesse is not there, 
for, in fulfillment of a sacred promise 
to him, I sneaked back the next Sun- 
day and brought him out* 

Tramping the Ties 

The hiding away of that horse was 
fortunate for me, for it evidently put 
my pursuers completely off the scent* 

24 




PRESIDENT LINCOLN IN THE CAMPS 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

I crawled over to the railroad and 
started on my long tramp xsp the track 
for oar lines about Washington* I fre- 
quently lay for several minutes flat in 
the weeds and grass, cruelly tormented 
by swarms of insects, while parties 
passed within sight* It took me over 
an hour to get around Warrenton Junc- 
tion, where as at Rappahannock Sta- 
tion, scores of people were gathered 
picking up and packing o£E the debris 
of the deserted Union camps* 

Then came a great surprise* Has- 
tening through a cut and around a 
curve in the road, I encountered an 
armed man* My first impression was 
that he was one of Mosby^s guerrillas, 
disguised, as they frequently were, in 
the uniform of the patriot troops; but 
his voice, as he ordered me to halt, 
gave me assurance, for in all my inter- 
course with Confederates I had never 

25 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

heard the Irish brogue from the lips of 
a disloyal person^ He proved to be a 
private of one of our Irish regiments 
(I think the Sixty-ninth New York). 
They had been here all winter, I be- 
lieve, as guard of the bridge across 
Cedar Creek; and, by some mistake, 
had received no orders to break camp 
and join in the general advance* Be- 
ing an infantry regiment, they had no 
large guns, but they had mounted their 
breastworks with ** Quaker ** cannon — 
logs, with the ends blackened with 
charcoal. These looked very formid- 
able to the gray cavalrymen circling 
about at a safe distance, but, on close 
examination, as a sergeant remarked, 
^*they were almost too natural to be 
reaV 

I got a good dinner here and lots of 
good cheer. As there were several 
parties in sight, and I was to resume 

26 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

the role of Southern sympathizer, I ar- 
ranged with these people to fire a vol- 
ley toward me as I *^ escaped/* across 
the bridge* From there, in mid-after- 
noon, I passed Catlett's Station safely, 
and made my way without noteworthy 
incident to Manassas Junction* 

At Manassas Junction I got caught 
at last* Here was a regularly organized 
Confederate cavalry camp — ^really an 
outpost to protect all the country, from 
the Bull Run to the Rapidan, recently 
abandoned by our troops, from incur- 
sion by the forces about the capital* 
As I approached the place so much 
vigilance was manifest that I aban- 
doned the idea of creeping past, deem- 
ing it safer to walk boldly into the 
camp* I told my story, with the pur- 
pose of pressing right forward on my 
mission, but the major in command 
was absent, and the lieutenant in tem- 

27 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

porary charge did not feel justified in 
letting me go on* 

Here I waited three or four hours, 
getting more impatient as the time 
went byt and more uneasy, lest some 
one might come in from below, with a 
description of a certain fugitive in 
whom I had a vital interest* At last 
dusk came on and then I did a very 
ungentlemanly thing* Without any 
expression of thanks to these extreme- 
ly attentive people, or any polite mes- 
sage for the gallant major, at whose 
headquarters I had been entertained 
with such steadfast and scrupulous 
solicitude, I crawled out between the 
guards and broke away up the track 
for the Bull Run River, six miles dis- 
tant* Reaching there, as I came 
across the trestle, a Union picket took 
me in and sent me to the post head- 
quarters, at Union Mills, near-by* The 

28 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

officer in command, a kind, well-brcd 
Frenchman, remembered me as hav- 
ing visited the post from Washington 
a few weeks previous* And here, at 
last, safe within our lines, my story of 
adventures might end; except that 
here, at last also, difficulties less ex- 
citing but, if possible, more formidable, 
and certainly much more annoying, 
were awaiting me* 

AT One End of a Wire 

I found that I was the first news- 
paper man— indeed, the only man from 
the front — to cross Bull Run River* 
This made my news doubly valuable* 
The nearest public telegraph station 
was at Alexandria, twenty miles away* 
That office would close at midnight* 
To accomplish my *^beai*^ on all the 
other papers I must make that twenty 
miles in three hours* 

29 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

At that time *^A horse! a horse P' 
was my mental exclamation if not 
an actual one^ and I offered all 
sorts of sums up to a thousand dol- 
lars for a horse and guide to Alex- 
andria* But no horse was to be 
had at any price* Five hundred dol- 
lars was my offer for a hand-car 
and a husky man to help me run 
itt but ** the car belonged to the gov- 
ernment/^ That statement gave me 
an idea: the government had a tele- 
graph wire out there, with an operator* 
I would not confess what this ** idea, ** 
was except to make this narrative com- 
plete, andt furthermore, to illustrate 
that spirit of emulation in a reporter 
which may tempt him sometimes to 
adopt desperate measures in the inter- 
est of his paper* I knew that no mes- 
sages except those strictly on govern- 
ment business and under military con- 
so 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

trol were ever permitted over one of 
these wires* Nevertheless^ I was bent 
on ** subsidizing '^ that operator, at 
whatever cost, to send out just a few 
words to the Tribune Bureau at Wash- 
ington* But before I reached the tele- 
graph office this scheme was aban- 
doned as impracticable* And I will 
give out this hint now to any one who 
may contemplate such a transaction: 
It takes two operators to get a tele- 
gram through, and only one of them 
will be within your ** sphere of per- 
sonal approach*^* 

Even as I discarded this plan another 
suggested itself* The Hon* Charles 
A* Dana was a personal friend of mine, 
and was Assistant Secretary of War* 
If I could get him on the wire, some- 
thing might possibly be done; so I 
wrote a dispatch, as a ^^feeler,^^ di- 
rected to him, officially, as follows: 

3J 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

'* / am just in from the front. Left 
Grant at four o'clock this morning** 

(This, by the way, was all that I had 
told anybody, lest any real news might 
^^leak/^) A response came imme- 
diately, but from Secretary Stanton: 

** Where did you leave General Grant} ** 

What ? Even the government had no 
knowledge of events at the front ? I 
had stored away under that faded 
cloth hat all the information there was 
of the momentous movements across 
the Rapidan* But I would be modest 
and generous: if Mr* Stanton would 
let me send one hundred words over 
the government line, I would tell him 
all that I knew* On a repetition of the 
demand, in more peremptory terms, I 
replied that my news belonged to the 
New York Tribune, and that he would 
have to negotiate with them for its re- 
lease* But I renewed my offer* 

32 




GENERAL GRANT AT HEADQUARTERS 
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

Arrested as a Spy 

Five minutes afterwardt at a call 
from the operator, the post commander 
came in* He looked at a telegram 
handed him ; and he then informed me 
that Mr* Stanton had ordered my ar- 
rest as a spy unless I would uncover 
my news from the front* Oi course 
that settled it* I would not have told 
him one little word to save my life* 
But here I was at the end of my re- 
sources* It had been my purpose, if 
he finally refused my offer, to start 
afoot for Alexandria in a frantic effort 
to make the twenty miles by midnight, 
but now there was nothing to be done 
but to submit* This news, that the 
whole country was lying awake for, was 
tied up here with a strip of dirty red 
tape* And the young man who to get it 
here had been shot at, and chased, and 

33 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

captured; who had masqueraded as a 
loathsome ^^ copperheadt'^ who had 
told two hundred lies, and who had 
even seriously contemplated commit- 
ting a felony, was to be locked 
up in a moldy, rat-infested guard 
house! 

Hardly that* On giving my parole 
not to run away I could have the free- 
dom of the camp* (Did I not say that 
this officer was a gentleman? A gentle- 
man and a true soldier, he was*) I 
lay down on a bench in the little sta- 
tion, hungry, tired, disgusted, and, for 
the first time, utterly discouraged* 

Lincoln versus Stanton 

Then something occurred that I can- 
not explain* I knew nothing of the 
telegraph code, yet, as a message was 
being ticked off on the tape, some 
subtle current of influence touched my 

34 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

apprehension^ I knew that it was for 
me* I sprang to my f eet* 

** What is it ? '^ was my question* 

^* Mr* Lincoln wants to know if you 
will tell him where Grant is/* 

I repeated my ofiPer — to communicate 
whatever information I had, for the 
use of the wire to transmit one hun- 
dred words* He accepted my terms 
without hesitationt only suggesting that 
my statement to my paper be so full as 
to disclose to the public the general 
situation* 

Nothing now was the matter with 
me* I was neither tired, hungry, nor 
sleepy* Standing by the operator at 
Union Mills, I dictated the half-column 
dispatch which appeared in the Tri- 
bune on the morning of Saturday, 
May 7, 1864* Mr* Lincoln, with his 
characteristic thoughtfuhiess for the 
public interests* arranged for the trans- 

35 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

fcr to the Associated Press of a short 
summary of the news, and thas the 
anxiety of the whole country was set 
at ease* 

Alone with Lincoln 

A locomotive was sent down for met 
and about two o^cIock in the morning 
I reached the White House, where the 
President had gathered his official fam- 
ily to meet me* As I stepped into the 
room where they were seated my 
glance caught a quick gleam of sur- 
prise and apprehension in Mr* Lin- 
coln's eyest and I was awakened to a 
sense of my disreputable appearance* 
My hair was disheveled, my shabby 
old coat was dusty and wrinkled, 
my pantaloons, much too long, were 
folded back at the bottom and gath- 
ered about my ankles with pieces of 
cotton twine, and my coarse shoes 

36 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

were coated three or f otir layers thick 
with *^ sacred soil/^ I had met, per- 
haps, every one of this company at pub- 
lic functions or in private interviews, 
fatrt not one of them recognized me in 
this garb^ As my glance swept around 
the group it rested on the genial coun- 
tenance of a particular friend, Mr* 
Welles, of Hartford, Connecticut, the 
Honorable Secretary of the Navy* As 
I advanced and accosted him he iden- 
tified me by my voice* He then pre- 
sented me, with much embarrassing 
formality, to the others* 

A half hour or more was spent in 
description of the movements of the 
troops, and in explanation, from a large 
map on the wall, of the situation at the 
time when I left* Then, as the com- 
pany was dispersing, I turned to Mr* 
Lincoln, and said: ^^Mr* President, I 
have a personal word for you*'^ 

37 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

The others withdrew and he closed 
the door and advanced toward me« As 
he stood there I realized as never be- 
fore how tall he was* I looked tip into 
his impassive face, ready to deliver 
Grant^s message* He took a shorty 
quick step toward me, and, stooping 
to bring his eyes level with mine, 
whispered, in tones of intense, im- 
patient interest, ^'What is it?*' 

I was so moved that I could hardly 
stammer : ** General Grant told me to 
tell you, from him, that, whatever hap- 
pens, there is to be no turning back/* 

The vision that opened through 
those wonderful eyes from a great 
soul glowing with a newly kindled hope 
is the likeness of Mr* Lincoln that I 
still hold in my memory, and ever 
shall* And that hope was never to be 
extinguished* Others had ''turned 
back*** Every other one had* But 

38 



WHEN LINCOLN KISSED ME 

there had come an end of that fatal 
foHy. 

Mr* Lincoln ptrt his great, strong 
arms about me and, carried away in 
the exuberance of his gladness, im- 
printed a kiss upon my forehead* We 
sat down again; and then I disclosed 
to him, as I could not do except in the 
light of that pledge of the great com- 
mander, all the disheartening details 
of that dreadful day in the wilderness* 
But I could assure him that the Army 
of the Potomac, in all its history, was 
never in such hopeful spirit as when 
they discovered, at the close of a day 
of disappointment, that they were not 
to ** turn back/^ 

39 







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